THE war of words over the E.Coli outbreak linked to two batches of Dunsyre Blue cheese took another twist yesterday when the agency leading the investigation into the incident refused to say that the outbreak was over or confirm reports that all testing of the supposedly contaminated cheese found no traces of the bacteria.

Food standards authorities blamed last month’s outbreak on two batches of Dunsyre Blue which is the biggest-selling cheese made by Errington Cheese of Carnwath in South Lanarkshire. The number of people confirmed as affected by E.Coli has risen to 20, of whom two were hospitalised, and two of whom reported ill in England.

The Incident Management Team (IMT) led by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) confirmed last night that they do not consider the outbreak to be over.

The National asked HPS to confirm that all testing of the two batches by their own experts and by independent microbiologists had returned negative results, in other words the suspect cheese was free of E.coli. HPS would not confirm or deny the test results.

In another development, it can be revealed that not all of the affected 20 people ate the suspect cheese though a “significant majority” did so, according to HPS.

Errington Cheese, who voluntarily recalled the two batches at the end of July, allege that the IMT has refused to show them the outbreak report, the food histories of those affected, or any other supporting documentation.

There is also a mystery as to why the IMT have refused to name the locations or premises where the cheese was sold.

The board of Food Standards Scotland received a short report on the outbreak at their meeting on August 17. Chief executive Geoff Ogilvie is minuted as saying: “The investigations have indicated an association with two batches of a blue cheese called Dunsyre Blue manufactured by Errington Cheese Company in Lanark. This particular type of blue cheese is made with unpasteurised cows’ milk.”

One environmental health expert speaking to The National on condition of anonymity said: “By failing to publicise the sale locations, vital information has been kept from the public that might have helped people decide whether or not to consult their doctor after suffering diarrhoea or other symptoms.

“They are also out to get anyone using unpasteurised milk because some experts are convinced it’s unsafe all the time.”

Errington say that of batch C22, 67 cheeses were sold amounting to 267.3kg. Of batch D14, 55 cheeses were sold weighing 185.95kg, but of that total of 453.25kgs, only three pieces amounting to 4.5kg of the implicated batches were returned.

In the absence of any other evidence, Errington say it must be concluded that the other 448.75kgs were eaten yet only 20 have fallen ill.

In an update on the firm’s website, co-owner Selina Cairns, daughter of company founder Humphrey Errington, states: “At the moment they appear to be working to try to pin something on me; they seem to be taking no notice of an independent report carried out by a specialist microbiologist in the field, or the large stack of microbiological evidence showing E.coli 0157 is NOT in the cheese.

“What has this cost us? People are worried about eating raw milk cheese and blue cheese and have not been purchasing. Health Protection Scotland is wrecking the reputation of dairy products in the whole country by making them appear unsafe.

“I think they need to make a statement saying, at the least, that they have found no trace of E.coli 0157 in the recalled Dunsyre and are looking into other potential sources. At some point someone must look at this objectively and give scientific/microbiological evidence precedence over ‘circumstantial statistical analysis’.”

The National asked HPS a series of questions including what hard physical or biological evidence had emerged to prove the link to the Dunsyre Blue batches.

Their reply in full is as follows: “The multi-agency Incident Management Team (IMT) considers that Dunsyre Blue cheese remains the most likely source of this outbreak. The IMT investigations have identified 20 affected individuals and confirmed that a significant majority of them ate Dunsyre Blue cheese prior to becoming unwell and before the voluntary recall of two suspect batches of the cheese on July 29.

“All the individuals were infected with the same strain of E.coli O157 suggesting a common source. Despite extensive investigation, no other common link to a majority of cases could be established. During this evolving investigation the IMT will not be releasing definitive figures but once it has concluded they will be published in the IMT’s final report.

“In reaching any decisions on the actions to be taken, the protection of the public health is the first and paramount priority for the IMT. These decisions are fully and carefully discussed and agreed collectively by the IMT, and no individual has the power or authority to alter or over-ride these.

“Decisions of the IMT are then implemented by the appropriate agency. The IMT includes representatives from Food Standards Scotland, NHS boards, The Food Standards Agency, the Scottish Reference and Public Analyst Laboratories, South Lanarkshire Council and other local authority environmental health teams, and is chaired by Health Protection Scotland.

“After this outbreak is declared over a full report will be published by the IMT detailing the actions taken and the reasons for these.”

Company won’t take allegations lightly after winning 1994 case

Those who have alleged that Dunsyre Blue cheese made by Errington Cheese caused the outbreak of E.coli which made 20 people ill should be very wary of the current fightback against those claims.

For the company’s founder Humphrey Errington has a history of taking on the food safety experts and winning.

Errington’s daughter Selina Cairns and her husband Andrew are like Humphrey in that they are not prepared to accept the assertions made by the Incident Management Team led by Health Protection Scotland that two batches of their biggest seller, Dunsyre Blue, caused the outbreak.

The case is similar to that won by Humphrey more than 20 years ago when the then Clydesdale District Council ended up paying nearly £400,000 in compensation and court costs after Errington proved that his Lanark Blue cheese was not a source of harmful Listeria infection.

The so-called Listeria Hysteria of 1989 – some people in Switzerland died of Listeria and ‘experts’ advised people not to eat anything that could have Listeria in it - was still fresh in people’s minds when in 1994, environmental health experts in Edinburgh found Listeria Monocytogenes in a batch of Lanark Blue.

Clydesdale told Errington to destroy all his production, but real experts in Listeria came to his aid, pointing out that the strain of Listeria in the Lanark Blue had never been shown to harm humans. Funnily enough, 63,000 portions of the cheese had already been sold when the findings were made and not one single case of Listeria-related illness had been reported.

Facing ruin, Errington was dragged into court and after a local justice of the peace, a Mrs Wilson, ruled that the cheese – a ton of it - had to be destroyed, Errington really went to war. 

With cash from friends and with Michael Jones QC on his side, Errington appealed.

In the Court of Session, Lord Weir said Errington had been denied natural justice, and when Clydesdale appealed against that, the judges threw the book at them and ordered that a sheriff and not a lay justice should conduct proceedings.

In the recalled case, Sheriff John Douglas Allan was given unimpeachable evidence that the Lanark Blue Listeria was “natural and harmless” and Errington had his victory. 

Sheriff Allan said Clydesdale officials were “lacking in objectivity, insecure, and finding it necessary to support a view at all costs, rather than approaching matters in a measured and balanced way” and awarded all costs and expenses against the council.

If Errington Cheese goes to court as they have said they might, and then wins their case, what will the costs be this time?